Pre-season 2006
With a late start to the pre-season after having played in the previous Grand Final, West Coast won just a solitary warmup match after being knocked out of the NAB Cup competition in the opening round by Fremantle. Rules The league experimented with a number of new rules during the pre-season. Any ball hitting the goal or behind posts and remaining in the field of play was play on. The boundary umpire moved 10 metres inside the boundary line to throw the ball back in. A 10-metre outer circle was added to the centre circle to restrict ruckmen's run-ups at centre bounces. To speed the game up, players were allowed to kick in from a behind as soon as the goal umpire had signalled the score, without waiting for him to wave the flags. Teams had a six-man bench, increased to eight in hot weather. As usual goals kicked from outside 50 were worth nine points. Shots that hit the post (and didn't rebound back into play) were worth three points. Exhibition game Sat, 8 October 2005 West Coast v Fremantle The Oval (London) Attendance: 19,000 (est) Goals: '''Hunter 4 '''Best: '''Hunter, Selwood, Butler '''Injuries: '''tba West Coast fell to a 17 point loss in a London exhibition game most notable for a third-term melee. Round 1 Sun, 26 February 2006 (4:10 PM WST) '''West Coast v Fremantle Subiaco Oval Attendance: 36,686 Supergoals: '''Judd '''Goals: '''Cousins, Embley, Hansen, R.Jones, Seaby, Staker, Stenglein '''Best: '''Nicoski, Cousins, Kerr, Rosa, Judd, Embley '''Injuries: '''Hansen (knee), Glass (sore) In hot conditions, West Coast wilted in the face of a Dockers outfit with better preparation, crashing to a big 62 point loss. Named side: McDougall, Judd, Kerr, Stenglein, Cousins, Gaspar, Wooden, Seaby, Chick, R.Jones, LeCras, Cox, Lynch, Glass, Rosa, Hurn, Hansen, Nicoski, A.Embley, Armstrong, Selwood, B.Jones, Staker, Priddis Emergencies: Waters, Braun, Graham, Butler, McKinley Fremantle squad: J.Carr, Schammer, Hasleby, Medhurst, Peake, McManus, M.Carr, Cook, Headland, Polak, Grover, Crowley, Mundy, Schofield, McPharlin, Walker, Longmuir, Parker, Dodd, Gilmore, Murphy, Pavlich, Sandilands, Bell, Farmer, Johnson, Haines, Warren NAB Challenge week 1 '''West Coast v St Kilda Sat, 4 March 2006 Rushton Park Attendance: 8,000 (approx) Goals: '''Lynch 5, Chick, A.Embley, R.Jones, Judd, Nicoski, Seaby, Staker '''Best: '''Judd, Braun, A.Embley, Nicoski, Cox, Lynch '''Injuries: '''Nil In more scorching weather, West Coast squeaked past a youthful St Kilda side missing a number of senior players who the Saints elected not to risk in the heat. Quinten Lynch kicked five goals to be his side's best. Named squad: Judd, Kerr, Stenglein, Banfield, Waters, Cousins, Braun, Gaspar, Wooden, Seaby, Adkins, Chick, R.Jones, LeCras, Cox, Lynch, Graham, Rosa, Hurn, Hansen, Nicoski, A.Embley, Armstrong, Selwood, B.Jones, Hunter, Staker, Priddis St Kilda: Peckett, X.Clarke, Thompson, Watts, Baker, Montagna, Voss, Gram, Fiora, Gilbert, Murray, Ferguson, Brooks, Blake, Ackland, Rix, McQualter, Gwilt, Raymond, Pfitzner, Sweeney, Corr, Schwarze, Milne NAB Challenge week 2 Carlton v '''West Coast Fri, 8 March 2006 Traeger Park Attendance: 8,500 (approx) Goals: '''LeCras, Lynch 2 '''Best: '''Lynch, LeCras, Banfield '''Injuries: '''tba '''Reports: '''Waters for tripping R.Houlihan West Coast fell to the Blues after leaving a number of senior players behind for the trip to Alice Springs. Named squad: McDougall, Stenglein, Banfield, Waters, Braun, Gaspar, Wooden, Seaby, Adkins, Chick, R.Jones, LeCras, Lynch, Graham, Rosa, Hurn, Butler, McKinley, Nicoski, Sharp, Armstrong, Thornton, Selwood, B.Jones, Hunter, Staker, Priddis Carlton: Walker, Russell, Murphy, Livingston, Simpson, Davies, McLaren, Lappin, Blackwell, Fisher, Teague, S.O'hAilpin, Bower, McGrath, Chambers, Hartlett, Stevens, Fevola, Bryan, Prendergast, Scotland, Waite, Thornton, Houlihan, Jackson, Bentick, Carrazzo NAB Challenge week 3 '''West Coast v Hawthorn Fri, 17 March 2006 Leederville Oval Attendance: 4,127 '''Goals: '''Staker 3, Embley 2 '''Best: '''Judd, Embley, Cousins '''Injuries: '''tba West Coast stumbled in their final hit-out, falling to the Hawks at Leederville Oval. Named squad: Judd, Kerr, Stenglein, Banfield, Waters, Cousins, Braun, Gaspar, Wooden, Seaby, Adkins, Chick, R.Jones, LeCras, Cox, Lynch, Graham, Rosa, Hurn, Butler, Hansen, Nicoski, A.Embley, Selwood, B.Jones, Hunter, Staker, Wirrpanda Hawthorn: Roughead, Lewis, Ladson, Mitchell, Williams, Osborne, Jacobs, Crawford, Bateman, Smith, Sewell, Taylor, Miller, Hodge, Ries, Guerra, Dixon, Boyle, Vandenberg, Franklin, Croad, Clarke, Dawson, Ball, Birchall, Bailey, Campbell, Young Links http://footystats.freeservers.com/Archive/NAB06.html Category:Pre-season summaries